Page 26 - the NOISE APril 2013

b Ugh
bb Eh
bbb Solid
bbbb Gold bbbbb Total Classic
These guys just make me wish I could hear the gnarly demos.
youth lagoon
Wondrous Bug House
Fat Possum
jjj
While the world cheers on Kevin Shields doing a new My Bloody Valentine record, the torch has long been passed and I’d say this record falls square in that post-MBV cat- egory. And it’s very well done. Equally pleas- ing in rainy foggy dirth and sunny beach day as well. The less noisy stuff could definitely sell small cars marketed to college students. Luckily, this swerves toward weirder and weirder, often sounding warped and war- bled, oh so lovingly, and yet never unpleas- ant.
The album seems to have a book-ending concept to it, which makes it like one song. Some of it is quite wonderful, original, and quite strange. Almost too dense and garbled for an educated review in the time allotted. A hit single did not pop out at me, that’s for sure, like say, a Deerhunter record, which I would certainly compare Youth Lagoon to. Very curious to see how this is pulled off live. I’ll bet it involves Apple products.
adrienne Pierce
My Heavens
MaPl
jj
Gorgeous Americana pining lovingly for just-over 30 minutes. I really love song two, “Oh Well,” and opener, “My Heavens,” starts the album in a promising way and then well,
I could certainly hear any of these songs on the radio, even in Flagstaff. The album starts to remind me of that television show, Daw- son’s Creek. I like the album cover artwork. I love her voice. What’s my problem? Perhaps, I’m just jealous.
swamp dogg
Rat On!
total destruction to your Mind light in the attic
jjjj
Youth Lagoon; adrienne Pierce
Some re-issues from 1970 and 1971 that make me immediately think of Jim Ford’s country-funk. Besides having some of the most amazing record covers, the lyrics are fantastic. They are largely political and still timely. The arrangements are funk-soul heav- en. Can’t go wrong with either of these very fun albums. Joy is the emotion I feel when tracks from either of these albums come on.
Swamp Dogg, if you’re too lazy to look it up, is Jerry Williams Jr., from Virginia. He gives a lot of credit to country music and has credits in that world as well. With these two albums, it’s a perfect blend. The horns are never too intrusive, and the original Dogg- father’s vocals are confident and outstand- ing. He has a Narvel Felts vibe. All the players are just bringing it. I can’t tell you which of these two albums I like more, but the epic,
“God Bless America,” (on Rat On!) is just glori- ous.Thenagain,“TotalDestruction...”ispure smoking rock n roll funk. You just cannot go wrong. Whoever is responsible for these albums not already being in every jukebox should definitely be in some sort of rock n roll jail.
hawk and dove
This Yesterday Will Never End
Big round records
jjj
I’d like to say that I don’t judge records be- fore I give them a spin. It’d be really nice to be able to say that. Alas. I wrote these guys off before I put this on. Not that it looked that bad, but that’s actually the death knell right there. Something that looks decent and well put together is generally the worst thing out of the batch every time.
The one good thing about being so judgmental is those rare occasions you get surprised. It happens. Occasionally, like on
“Things We Lost So Far,” I wonder if I put on Vic Chesnutt and forgot, the album produced by legendary Van Dyke Parks. The band, which consists of two main members, one of which is the songwriter, tries out about every trick in the studio, hires a near orchestra, and luckily fails to ruin the record. There’s a lot of good droney feedback and slow, plodding tempos, both of which come together per- fectly on “Electricity,” which sounds a lot like
26 • APRIL 2013 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us